Sony will bring out in the middle of the year a new stand-alone Blu-ray player priced at $599 – $400 less than the company's current machine.

The BDP-S300 will cost $599 (€455), yet will have the same capabilities as the $999 (€759) BDP-S1 Sony is currently selling. The BDP-S300 will be able to output a 1080P signal, which is the highest of several levels of video quality that fall under the high-definition banner. This function until now could only be found on the most expensive players.

It will also upconvert standard DVD signals to 1080P for output over the HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) connector and can send out video at 24 frames per second, which is the rate used for films.

The player also includes multichannel linear PCM digital audio output via HDMI, Dolby Digital Plus decoding, and compatibility with a host of optical disc formats, including the AVCHD format used by some high-definition video camcorders.

The new player will mean more price pressure on Toshiba-backed competiting HD DVD format. At present, the least expensive HD DVD player is Toshiba's HD-A2. It costs 499 dollars but doesn't offer 1080P playback (a function currently available on the $999 HD-XA2 machine. A more advanced model, offering full 1080P is scheduled for a sping launch at around $600, says Toshiba.

The new unit will be in direct competition with the PlayStation 3 console, the cheapest Blu-ray player currently available. There are two versions of the PS3, selling for $499 and $599. Between the two available models, Sony has sold roughly 1.8 million units in the past year.

Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics, told reporters that by Christmas, prices for Blu-ray players should be down below $500 (€380).

Story filed 01.03.07